Te Puia

We left Rotorua this morning and headed first toward Ohinemutu,a wonderful old Maori church on the shores of the lake, wich was pointed out to us by Megl  It's a nice getaway from the rest of Rotorua and probably sums up much more of how the place once was. Then we looked for Te Puia thermal park and had a good wander round. It was difficult to avoid the Chinese tourists with their selfie sticks. I wonder what makes them think that everything is improved by their grinning mush in front of the landscape? It was getting on towards lunchtime when we set off towards Lake Taupo. It's not a long drive but we were quite shocked when the car in front of us suddenly veered across the road and only managed to correct itself just in time. I don't know if it was a jet lagged tourist (it looked as if it might have been a rental) or what but heaven knows what might have happened if it had ricocheted into our path. Anyway we made it safely and booked into today's hotel and got a bite to eat. 

Much like yesterday, it started to rain quite heavily again but we took a drive into Taupo (we're staying just a little way outside) and along the shore to get a view of the lake and the mountains that surround it. It's quite a place, a huge lake the size of Singapore, made by a volcano exploding. Still, they think it's dormant now, so that's alright.

My blip is the Prince of Wales geyser which decided to give us a performance after everyone else had wandered off. I tried various ways to get a long exposure without a tripod. On this occasion I held the camera on a fence post. There is a bit of movement but I think it's alright. There are a few more here.

I hope your week's started alright.

David